Apr 11, 2022 - Economy

Thoma Bravo buying back SailPoint for $6.9 billion

Dan Primack

Keys spelling out cyber — Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Thoma Bravo agreed to buy Austin, Texas-based enterprise cybersecurity firm SailPoint Technologies (NYSE: SAIL) for $6.9 billion. The deal includes a 35-day go-shop provision, and works out to $65.25 per share (31.6% premium to Friday's close).

Why it matters: Private equity is entering a new normal on debt financing, preferring private credit over bank loans that may struggle to get syndicated due to geopolitical instability.

For Thoma Bravo, that means tapping the same lenders that it used for the recent $10.7 billion Anaplan buyout: Golub Capital, Blackstone Credit and Owl Rock.

History: Thoma Bravo previously bought SailPoint from venture capital funds in 2014 for an undisclosed amount, and then took it public in 2017 at $12 per share.

The bottom line: The massive price appreciation is chalked up to SailPoint converting much of its business from on-premise to SaaS, plus increased CISO focus on identity governance. A source says that Thoma Bravo's plan is to finish the SaaS conversion, and to help SailPoint become a consolidator of the broader identity access management market.

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Thoma Bravo buying back SailPoint for $6.9 billion

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